SAN DIEGO — Mark Geddes was supposed to play in the Farmers Insurance Open last year, but he had something more important come up.

Geddes’ third son was due the week of the tournament, and young Max Geddes arrived the day after Harris English’s victory at Torrey Pines.

“I wasn’t going to miss the birth of my son,” Geddes said.

No doubt.

The local pro at Coronado Golf Course, who was born and raised in Liverpool, England, had qualified for the 2025 Farmers several months earlier. Thinking ahead, Geddes swapped his spot in the 2025 Farmers with Santaluz assistant pro Cavin McCall, who had an exemption for the 2024 World Wide Technology Championship in Cabo San Lucas.

Geddes earned another opportunity to play in this year’s Farmers and played the first two rounds. He opened Thursday with a 76 on the North and carded a 74 on the South in Friday’s second round. It wasn’t enough to make it to the weekend, but it was a time to remember.

“It’s good,” Geddes said. “It’s just hard. This golf course is hard. I don’t do this for a living. I’m fortunate enough where I’m playing here for fun rather than it’s my job. So I’m kind of fortunate in the sense that I can just trust what I’ve done to this point and have more fun with it.”

Both rounds began with early bogeys and a double bogey that put him four-over before he really got going, but Geddes also responded both days with second nines that included two birdies Thursday and three more on Friday for solid finishes.

What were your expectations coming into the week?

“I felt pretty good,” he said. “You just get kicked in the teeth on the first hole, and it puts you in reverse a little bit. Then you’ve got to try and find your momentum again.

“There’s a couple of holes where you can kind of be aggressive out there, but you’re playing a lot of defense, for the most part. At least I am, as somebody who plays golf once a week, at most.

“It was good. It was good.”

Geddes came to the States two decades ago on a golf scholarship to Grand Canyon University, where he earned All-America honors. He turned pro out of college and played on several mini tours as well as the Canadian Tour before pivoting in 2017 when he joined the PGA Associate program. Geddes has spent the past decade working at Coronado GC, although he scratches the itch to play in local events.

“There so many great players that don’t make it,” Geddes said. “If you are good enough, you will make it. But you’ve got to have opportunity and timing and at some point you’ve got to realize that you’ve got to pay the bills. There’s family to take care of. That’s my goal now instead of trying to play full time, taking care of my family.”

This was Geddes’ third PGA event. In addition to the Farmers and the Worldwide Technology Championship, Geddes played in the 2021 PGA Championship.

“Anytime you get the opportunity to play any events of this stature, it’s meaningful,” Geddes said. “I’d like to do this more often and make a habit of it.”

Rule breakers

Two spectators ducked the rope line late in the day along the 18th fairway and raced to the other side. They were scolded by a marshal as they exited after risking being hit with a low flyer from Justin Lower’s group on the 18th tee.

An 8-year-old waiting with his dad for the proper time to cross summed up the situation: “They did a bad thing,”

Tip of the day

Signing autographs for kids outside the scorer’s building after his round, David Ford was asked what advice he would give to young golfers. First and foremost, he said, is to have fun. He also advised working on short game. And finally, “Work on things you enjoy. The more you work on things you enjoy, the more you’re going to enjoy the game.”

Good advice for young — and old.

Record pace

Justin Rose’s two-round score of 127 broke the tournament’s 36-hole record of 129 that Rose shared with Tom Lehman (2005) and Lennie Clements (1996). Rose did it when he won the Farmers in 2019.

At 17 under for the tournament, Rose is well within range of the tournament record 22 under. Tiger Woods (1999) and George Burns (1987) both shot 266, though those scores came before the South Course redesign in 2001.

Parting thought

Always a day late and a dollar short … With the bottom dropping out of the silver market (down 25%) and taking a hit in gold (down 8%) on Friday, it would have been wise to move into parking lot futures.

Valet parking at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines went from $75 on Thursday to $115 on Friday, with market forces expected to push it even higher over the weekend.

The car should come back washed and waxed for that price.

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